Nine Months and Nine Years
by Laura and Amber
Summary: Most things in life have a rough start. But if things were so hard, how did it turn out to be the way it is now and what were things like before? A little phinbella eventually, mostly family-fluff.
1. Chapter 1

"Mommy, where's Daddy?"

Linda was tucking her five year-old daughter, Candace, into bed after a very unpleasant day. She sighed softly, unsure of how to explain to her that the man she was asking of would no longer be seeing her.

After a moment she replied, "I don't know".

But this only raised the young girl's curiosity. "When will he come back?"

"I don't know, sweetie.", her mother replied again.

Linda, unfortunately had a very rough day. And after having a fight with her fiancee, Heinz Doofenshmirtz, and breaking up with him completely, she knew that the next day would only be worse. She looked at Candace, who simply looked back, and worried how things would go for her. The woman leaned forward and kissed her child on the forehead. "Now, go to sleep, okay? Don't worry, everything will be alright.", she said gently.

"Okay. Goodnight, Mommy.", Candace turned onto her side and closed her eyes, waiting to fall asleep.

Linda smiled down before getting up, turning off a lamp near the bed, and gently closing the door. Candace carefully peeked at the door and seeing that her mother wasn't there, opened her eyes and began to wonder some more. For Candace, the day had been slightly odd. And she still had some questions that she couldn't answer.

_'Why's Mommy upset? And where's Daddy?'_, she thought curiously as her mind turned over the day. It seemed that her parents had fought, because they were yelling about something earlier... but why would they do that? Was it because of that girl, Vanessa, Heinz said was her sister? '_I wonder why she was mad too... Why was she mad at Daddy? I hope Daddy's okay.'_

Candace knew that he would be, he always was. Even when all of his things almost hurt him, everything turned out okay.

The small girl reached down under the sheets, pulled up her Ducky Momo doll and fell asleep holding it closely.

After Linda changed into her nightgown, she gave another sigh and sat on her bed. She wanted to believe everything would be okay, but how could she? How on earth would she explain this to her family, let alone her daughter? How could she explain that she wasn't going to get married and try to raise Candace by herself while trying to maintain a job that payed poorly? But as she hung her head and looked down at her stomach, she remembered another issue. How would her second child do without a father?

* * *

_Hey everyone, this is Amber! Just so you know, I'm writing this one all on my own, so please wish me luck! ^_^ Also, just so you know, we won't be focusing entirely on Phineas growing up and stuff. Thanks for reading so far!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Heinz walked into his home with his young daughters, Candace and Vanessa. He was surprised to find that the door was unlocked, but after stepping inside he was even more surprised to see Linda come around the corner to see them, having heard the door open and close._

_"L-Linda?", Heinz said, feeling a bit perplexed and nervous. "What are you doing home so early? I thought you were at work?"_

_"Hi, honey.", Linda greeted, slightly nervous herself. "I kinda have to talk to you."_

_"Hi, Mommy!", said Candace as she hugged her mother. "Mommy, can I take Vanessa up to my room?"_

_"Uh, sure you can, sweetie.", Linda smiled._

_"Come on, Vanessa!", Candace said, eagerly pulling on the girl's arm._

_"Oh, Dad, do I _have_ to?", Vanessa groaned to her father, surprising Linda and raising Heinz's alarm._

_Doofenshmirtz glanced at his fiancee who started to look at him suspiciously. "Um, y-yes, yes you do. Go on.", he shooed gently, causing Vanessa to groan again as she reluctantly followed her younger half-sister._

_"Heinz?", Linda began as Doof turned to look at her. "Who's that little girl? And why did she call you _'dad'_?"_

_"Now, Linda, it's not what you think-"_

_"Then what is it?", the woman interrupted, becoming very upset. "Is she your daughter?"_

_"I-! Well, yes, but-!", Heinz tried to explain, but Linda already jumped to conclusions._

_"Heinz Doofenshmirtz, I can't believe you! You went and had a child with another woman?", she accused._

_"No! Linda you don't understand!", Heinz replied frantically._

_"No, forget it! I don't _want_ to understand!"._

_Heinz was slightly shocked to see her so furious with him. She's gotten upset before, but never this badly. "Whoa, Linda, why are you so upset? I've never seen you like this before."_

_"Why am I so upset? I find out that my fiancee is cheating on me, or HAS cheated on me, I still have to figure out how to pay the bills by the end of the month because selling bratwurst just isn't doing it, I've been feeling nauseous all day and it turns out that I'm pregnant again!", Linda bursted, almost ready to break down in tears._

_Needless to say, Heinz was shocked by the last part. "You're-? But.. Isn't that a _good_ thing?", Heinz stuttered._

_Linda's eyes turned to the floor as a tear came from them. "..No...", she replied softly, "No it isn't."_

_"What do you mean? Why wouldn't it be? I mean, besides the whole, 'we're not married yet' part."_

_"Because I can't do this.", she answered._

_"What? No, Linda! Don't go there. It'll be alright.", Heinz tried to reassure. He tried to reach an arm out to place on her shoulder, but the woman looked back up at him and took a step back._

_"No! Heinz Doofenshmirtz, I want you to take _your_ daughter and your unsuccessful inventions and get out of my house!", she said, pointing at the door._

* * *

These last words were still echoing in Heinz's thought's the next day. Fortunately, he was allowed to stay with with Dr. Bloodpudding after dropping Vanessa off back at her mother's. Unfortunately, he had nowhere to go now and could probably never see Candace again, nor would he ever meet the second child that Linda was now carrying. He sighed to himself dismally as he thought of Candace. Would she be alright without a father? What would happen to her without his guidance and protection? Especially considering how many juvenile delinquents have no fathers. But even as he tried to push all of this out of his mind, there was one question that taunted him mercilessly. Will this emotionally scar her?

Linda was having a slightly better day than Doofenshmirtz. It had a bit of a rough start, due to morning sickness, but after that was out of the way she took Candace to kindergarten and then went to her job. She had made it up in her mind that she was tired of the over-emotional drama and thus, she decided to try to be optimistic instead. Whatever may happen, she would try to find a bright side to the situation. Not only for Candace's sake, but for her own as well.

Meanwhile, Candace was talking to her best friend Stacy as they drew pictures like their teachers instructed them to. Upon not seeing any trace of her father that morning, Candace began to grow more worried.

"I'm sure that your daddy's fine.", Stacy said, trying to help her slightly anxious friend.

"But he wasn't home last night or this morning!", Candace replied. "What if something _bad_ happened to him?"

"But you said that bad stuff happens all the time?"

"Yeah, but what if this time it was _really_ bad? What if he got lost?"

Stacy thought for a moment. "...What did your mommy say?"

"She doesn't want to talk about it.", said Candace. "I already tried asking her. But I think I asked too many times because now she's grumpy."

"Well, if he's lost, maybe you just have to find him.", Stacy suggested.

Candace thought this sounded like a good idea, but after a moment she was still unsure. "How?"

"I dunno.", Stacy shrugged.

Candace pouted sadly and turned back to her picture. She was drawing a picture of the Ducky Momo doll that Heinz had given her for her last birthday. After looking at it for a moment, she decided that when she finds her daddy someday, she'll give him the picture just in case he ever got lost again.

Later that day, when Linda picked up Candace from school, the young girl wanted to ask again about her father's whereabouts again, but hesitated and decided not to. After they got home, Candace did her homework while Linda baked a pie to cheer up her daughter. She wanted to make sure that the child was happy. She did her best to make sure that everything would be okay. And for the next nine months, everything was. Linda managed to wear a smile everyday, even through the slightly harder times, from throwing up zucchini because the baby didn't like it, to telling the doctor that she wanted _nothing_ to do with abortion, to apologizing to Candace's teacher for the fact that the girl tried to call the police with the principal's phone to see if they knew where her father was.

* * *

_A/N (for crying out loud, READ IT!): Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait, but I hope you liked the chapter. Also, I'm sorry if Linda seemed a bit OOC'd at he beginning, but understand that she's under a lot of stress, y'know? Anyway, thanks for reading! ^_^_


	3. Chapter 3

During the last month, Linda's sister, Tiana, came to help her while she got ready to give birth to her son. When the time had come for the child to be born, Linda was driven to the hospital by Tiana with Candace in the backseat. There, Candace had to sit with her aunt for what felt like forever and a day in the waiting room. Finally when the doctor came in, he explained that Linda will have to stay for a night or two. When he and Tiana finished talking, she and Candace headed home though the young girl didn't quite understand what was going on.

Candace, by this time, had guessed that perhaps her father didn't _want_ to see her anymore, or the new baby, for that matter. She had thusly, given up looking for him, but she could never give up loving him. But still, she didn't understand exactly _why_ he had left in the first place. Linda never bothered trying to explain the situation to her, mostly because she was unsure how to, even though she slightly wished she could.

But for that day, the child tried not to focus on her father and had fun with her aunt instead. They played games and watched Ducky Momo together, but as the day progressed into night, the young girl became exceedingly worried and refused fall asleep sleep until her mother came home.

"Candace, you have to go to sleep now.", her aunt urged gently.

"No! I'm not going to sleep until Mommy comes home!", said Candace. Despite her age, she was surprisingly determined.

"But Candace, she won't be home tonight.", Tiana began, accidentally terrifying the child.

"What?! No! She _has_ to come back!", she cried out in disbelief.

"No! No no, she'll come back, just not tonight."

"Why not?!", she demanded

"Candace-!"

"_Why did Daddy have to go?!_", the young girl screamed up at her aunt as tears quickly fell from her eyes.

The woman finally understood where all Candace's grief and worry came from, but now she faced more trouble as she had to find an answer to the child's question that was sufficient, but without explaining that Heinz was assumed to have cheated on her mother.

"Um...", she racked her mind to find an appropriate answer for Candace. "Well... because.. they couldn't get married."

She began to wonder if it was even her place to be explaining this. But this answer seemed to be reasonable to Candace until she thought up another.

"What do you need so you can get married?", she asked more calmly.

"Uh, well, lots of things.", Aunt Tiana said as she began to list a few examples "Rings, the right clothes, a special man to... sort of say that they're married. And most of the time, people have a lot more than that, like.. like flowers or a bridesmaid of honor."

"What's that?", asked Candace.

"The maid of honor? She's one of the most important parts.", Tiana explained with a smile, relieved to be on a different subject. "She makes sure that _everything_ goes the way that the bride wants. She has to make sure that everything's perfect."

Because Candace was only five years-old, she had a very short attention-span. Because of this, she had completely forgotten why she was crying less than two minutes ago and was now interested in this topic and soon thought of yet another question.

"When you get married someday, can I be your maid of honor?", Candace asked.

"Sure, I'm sure you'll do great job.", Tiana chuckled.

"Promise?", Candace asked again, growing with excitement.

"Yes, I promise. _But_, only if you go to sleep now."

"Okay!", said Candace happily. She pulled up the covers, turned around and shut her eyes tightly.

Tiana couldn't help but laugh a bit before leaning down, gently kissing Candace on the head and got up to leave the room. But as she did, Candace opened her eyes and turned to look at her, starting to feel worried again.

"Auntie T?", she called out before the woman could leave.

"Yes?", she replied, turning back to look at her niece.

"Can you snuggle with me tonight?", she asked, looking rather innocent and adorable.

Tiana agreed with a smile and laid on the bed with her niece.

The next morning only raised Candace's anxiety as her mother still wasn't there. She would've burst into tears if her aunt hadn't already promised that her mother wouldn't be gone forever. But still, what on earth could be taking so long?

At the hospital, Linda had finally given birth to her new son just a few hours earlier. There was something almost strange about the child though. Not that there was anything _wrong_ with him, but at first when he cried after he was born, Linda was almost unable to tell if he was crying or... shrieking with... _laughter_. She was remembering this as she held him carefully wrapped securely in a blanket in her arms and couldn't help but smile down gently at her tiny child, smiling in his sleep. Her blue-eyed little boy, Phineas Flynn.


	4. Chapter 4

Candace was playing in her room, by herself when her aunt, Tiana came in with a smile on her face and the phone in her hand.

"Hey Candace, there's someone on the phone for you.", she said.

Candace came up and took the phone a bit surprised.

"Hello?", she asked curiously.

"Hi, Candace!", came her mother's voice.

"Hi, Mommy!", the child replied excitedly. "Are you gonna come home now?"

"Yes and you're gonna get to meet your baby brother, Phineas.", Linda said after a chuckle.

"I'm a big sister now?"

"Yes, yes you are."

Candace shrieked with delight and threw arms around Tiana's legs.

"Auntie T! I'm a big sister!", she said. Candace could no longer focus on the conversation with her mother, so she gave the phone back to her aunt before running to the other side of her room to share the news with Ducky Momo, Mary McGuffin, and Mr. Miggins.

Tiana laughed a bit at this and then talked some more with her sister.

Some hours later, Candace was drawing a picture, as part of her homework. Though her head perked up the moment she heard the front door open and close. A sound that was soon followed by her mother's voice. Immediately she leapt to her feet and ran out to the living room to see whether or not her ears were deceiving her.

"Mommy!", she said, seeing her mother standing in the room. She was about to run to the woman but stopped when she saw the bundle of blankets she was holding. At first, she wasn't sure what it was, but when she noticed the baby's nose peeking out, she smiled and realized it was her new brother.

"Candace..", Linda began with a smile. "This is Phineas."

She walked over to the small girl and knelt down to her height, then gently she asked, "..Do you want to hold him?"

Candace nodded excitedly and was carefully given the tiny child. She held him cautiously and securely. Slowly, she peered into the blankets and what she saw caused her eyes to shimmer and her heart to swell with joy. She had an ear-to-ear smile on her face as she saw Phineas who smiled right back at her, his eyes just as wide as hers.

"Hi, Phineas.", she softly welcomed.

Phineas cooed happily in return. Candace had never felt so happy to meet someone before, but looking at his deep, blue eyes, his kind, loving smile and his large, pointy nose, she was also reminded of somebody else. Candace then turned to her mother and remarked, "Mommy, he looks like Daddy!"

Linda was thoroughly surprised by this. She glanced at her sister who only shrugged, equally bewildered. To them, Phineas didn't look a _thing_ like Heinz! Granted, they both had pointy noses and blue eyes, but the baby's features didn't seem to resemble the man's in _any_ way. Linda quickly shook her head in disagreement.

"N-no, no he doesn't.", Linda said.

"Yes, he does.", Candace replied after a moment. She was now frowning in confusion.

Before Linda could open her mouth to disagree again, Phineas yawned and began to look tired.

"Here, let me go put him down for a nap.", said Linda with her arms stretched out a little.

Candace pouted a bit, but gently handed her brother back and watched as her mother carried him upstairs.

A moment after her mother was out of sight, Candace turned and looked up at her aunt.

"Auntie T, do _you_ think he looked like Daddy?", she asked innocently.

Tiana didn't want to take part in another discussion about the man and so, she soon decided to change the subject entirely.

"Um, hey Candace, how's your homework coming?", she asked. "Do you need any help?"

"Um, okay.", she replied. She felt a bit more confused by the random question, but when she remembered the picture she was supposed to be drawing and how poorly she thought it was turning out, she thought about Phineas and smiled, deciding to draw a picture of him instead.


	5. Chapter 5

However long it was since Heinz had last seen Linda, the man didn't know. During this time, whenever he wasn't trying to sell bratwursts, he simply moped about in Dr. Robert Bloodpudding's guest room.

One day, when he was listening to some depressing CDs, the man whose house he was living in decided that this had gone on long enough. He came into the room, stood next to the bed, and watched as his friend continued to stream tears into the pillow his face was buried in.

"...Heinz, get up. You can't just keep laying in bed all day.", the man said after a moment, though Heinz only responded by reaching a hand up and turning the music up louder. "And stop listening to the same stupid song over and over! Get up already! You have to eat _something_!"

Doofenshmirtz raised his bloodshot eyes towards Bloodpudding's for a moment before turning to the CD player and hitting the "skip forward" button.

_People just ain't no good._

_I think that's well understood._

_You can see it everywhere you look._

_People just ain't no good._

_We were married under cherry trees._

_Under blossoms, we made our vows._

Bloodpudding groaned as Heinz started to cry again hearing the lyrics and thinking of Linda.

"Rob, you don't get it!", Heinz whined, hearing the exasperated groan.

"Yes, yes I do. _You_ don't get that you're throwing the same hissy-fit that you had when Charlene divorced you, and that you need to get over it!", he replied turning off the boom-box.

"It's _DIFFERENT_." Heinz argued, turning the radio back on.

Robert tried to turn it back off but his friend only kept his hand away and blocked it, as the two continued to bicker. In the confusion of the struggle, one of them hit the "skip back" button by mistake.

'_Okay, Candace. What do you wanna sing?'_, Doof's voice asked on the CD.

When the sound of this forgotten track hit Doofenshmirtz's ears, his eyes widened.

"Wait wait wait! What's-?"

Robert finally stopped for a moment and his eyes also grew wide with slight shock at what he heard.

_'You are my Sunshine!'_, replied Candace's voice cheerfully.

_'Alright, go ahead.'_

After a moment Candace could be heard starting to sing.

_'You are my sunshine, my only sunshine! You make me happy, when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you! Please don't take, my sunshine away!'_

Doofenshmirtz already understood why Candace wanted to sing this song. It was the song they'd sing together before bed. He also used to sing it to her whenever she was upset and almost immediately, she would calm down. Needless to say, this song was very special to both of them. And it broke Doof's heart to hear her sing it again.

Dr. Bloodpudding now had a better understanding of why it hurt so badly for Heinz to leave all those months ago. He also understood that yelling at his friend wasn't the best way to get him up.

After a moment, Doof reached a trembling hand up and turned off the CD player.

"...Come on, Heinz..", the mad scientist finally said. "Let's get you something to eat."

With a shaky sigh and nod, Heinz finally got up and left the room, dragging his feet sorrowfully as he went.

Later at a fast-food restaurant, Dr. Bloodpudding came up to a small table where Doofenshmirtz was and sat down with some food.

"I got you some fries."

Doof had his elbow on the table and his face resting in his hand. Never before in his tragic life had he felt so dead.

"...Thank you..", he whispered after seeing the food in front of him, though he didn't touch it.

"Heinz, you need to get over this.", Robert sighed. "Sometimes, things just don't work out. Like with you and Charlene."

"It's different.", Heinz repeated. "I actually loved her.. I mean, we _would've_ gotten married if we had the money."

"But you and Charlene WERE married. And had a daughter, just like with Linda. You used to say that you loved her, too. It's only different in the sense that you didn't marry Linda and that you were drunk when you met her."

"There are other differences.", Heinz pouted. "Charlene and I had LOTS of problems. Linda and I just weren't married. If we were, things would have gone a lot better."

"I'm pretty sure that wasn't your only problem."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for one, she thought you've been cheating on her for the last five years. For another, didn't she say you were unsuccessful?"

"Oh yeah..", Heinz said. He had forgotten about that last part. After some thought, he came up with an idea. "Hey! What if I proved to her that I COULD be successful? Maybe then she'd accept me again and I could be with her and Candace!"

Bloodpudding was a bit surprised for a moment. It was the first time in months he had seen his friend smile. He considered the plan for a moment and replied, "Sounds like a good idea, but what are you gonna do? Make a toaster that won't blow up?"

"Nah, something that would really stand out to her. But what?" the man began to ponder.

"Didn't she suggest something to you a long time ago? Like in high-school?"

"Hmm?", Heinz thought for a moment. "...Oh yeah, she did. She said I should take over the tri-state area."

"That sounds like it could work.", smiled Dr. Bloodpudding. Being an evil scientist himself, he had often encouraged this sort of thing in his friend.

"Hey, yeah! That COULD work! I mean hey, if she was a pop-star like she said she wanted to be, then I should be able to take over the tri-state area! And then she'll see that I AM successful, and then she'll take me back, and we'll finally get married, and I'll get to be with her and Candace again!", Heinz planned excitedly.

"You know, I can't believe that you haven't even seen that woman for the last nine months and yet you're still holding onto her.", Bloodpudding said.

"Yeah well, love will always hold strong.", Heinz replied.

"I'm still pretty sure that this is just a crush, you don't know what _love_ really is."

"For the last time, I DO know what true love is!", Heinz snapped, losing his smile. "She and I were meant to be together. Just had a relationship-bump, okay?"

"More like a relationship-pothole.", smirked Robert.

Doofenshmirtz opened his mouth, but the man paused here and remained quiet for a moment. After a moment he closed his mouth again. It was as if a scary thought had struck him and he didn't know how to interpret it to his friend. "...D-did.. Did you say 'nine months'?", he finally asked softly.

"Yes, you've been bawling you're eyes out for almost a whole year. Why do you ask?", he asked sarcastically, confused by the man's sudden demeanor.

"N.. Nine months.. Nine months exactly? Has it been nine months [today]?", he asked again.

"Uh, more or less, probably more. But, why are you asking this?", he repeated.

Heinz's eyes grew wide as he stared at Robert. Since Robert had been Heinz's best friend since high-school, he knew him rather thoroughly. But still, he didn't understand what the matter was. But as he stared back at his friend, waiting for an explanation on the apparent importance of the mentioned time-span, he soon came to read the truth in the man's eyes and his became almost equally wide.

"Y.. You can't be serious..", he finally uttered. "You actually- Is she-?"

"Last I knew.", Heinz replied. "It was one of the last things she told me!"

Heinz dropped his face back into his folded arms on the table in despair. Not only did he miss the child's birth, he didn't even remember it.

Robert sat an elbow against table and sighed. He understood very well that the last thing his friend wanted to do was be a bad parent. He knew that Heinz was worried that this would emotionally scar his new child some years from now when it was older. He looked down at the table and thought.

"...Y'know,", he started softly. "If you and Linda really _were_ in love, maybe you should try to make amends with her."

Heinz looked up at him with a sniffle, wondering what he meant.

"Because, wouldn't she have forgiven you by now? I mean really, nine months, that's a long time to hold a grudge for a misunderstanding, don't you think? And then you could explain that you didn't cheat on her."

"Well.. Yeah, I guess.. But how?", the man asked, sitting up "I mean, you can't just walk up to someone out of the blue, not when they hate you."

"For crying out loud, Heinz. I don't know. I may be an evil genius, but I'm not the one that's had three kids.", Robert groaned, growing tired of all these questions he and Heinz had to answer.

Doofenshmirtz however, wasn't yet ready to give up. He dried his eyes and started to think some more as he began to eat again. He thought about Linda. He thought about the child. Thinking of children of course, had returned his mind to Candace. He had often feared that he would scar her childhood somehow. After all, it was the first five years of a child's life that your's and the world's impressions were made. She was already five and was soon going to be six.

_'Oh yeah.'_, thought Doof. _'Her birthday's coming up soon..'_

Candace was going to be six years-old in just a week or so. The man felt that he had to make a final, lasting impression on the child. Something for her to remember him by, in case if Linda stood firm in her decision and he never saw them again. He supposed he could do something for her birthday if her mother would allow.. but what_?_

* * *

_A/N: Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry for the long wait! Okay, to anyone who's read "Sequels" or "Phineas Evil Incorporated", you should be able to guess what the plan is. Trust me, it's gonna be great. Oh BTW, speaking of other fanfics, if you haven't already, I suggest reading Laura's one shot, "The Amnesianator". Just saying, it kinda ties in with this. Anyway, Please R+R! =)_


	6. UPDATE! Please read!

Hi everyone, so sorry for the delay. ^^;;;; I just wanted to say that I'm gonna totally start over and re-write the story, I think a couple things could _definitely_ use some improvement. Just letting you guys know so that you're not confused or anything. Also, HUGE THANKS to all you guys for the sweet comments, they really make me feel special. =) Anyway, I don't exactly know when I'll update again, _(I'msowrappedupinotherstoriesXS )_, but I won't take this down until I do.

**_Tralfaz,_**

**_Amber._**


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